How collaboration enriches rave culture (with Louisahhh)

Without collaboration, rave culture would not have flourished as it has over the last few decades. From teams of event organisers finding empty warehouses to host huge illegal raves, to everyday people driving in convoy to secret locations, working together has been crucial.

@louisahhh is an artist who collaborates regularly, often as a vocalist. Through her experience of collaboration in the music industry, she tells us why it’s crucial to rave culture…

COUNTERACTS LONELINESS
Electronic music can be individualistic and isolating: DJs tour alone, one person makes music in their bedroom studio. By collaborating, you counter this by coming together and creating a support network.

ESSENTIAL FOR THRIVING COMMUNITIES
In healthy communities there is a lot of collaboration. Agents and promoters exchange information with each other, DJ collectives represent disenfranchised minorities. Subcultures need collaboration to flourish.

TO SUPPORT A SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE
By collaborating on a shared vision, you can truly embrace the progress of our culture in a sustainable way. Cohesive, communal projects contribute to a longer lasting culture. If we’re working together on a sustainable plan and vision, it has a positive impact and everyone wins.

SENSE OF BELONGING
For all of you who felt like outsiders, the rave community offers a sense of belonging. You connect on the dance floor and create a collaborative energy with your fellow dancers. This is essential to human society and has been since ancient times.

COLLECTIVE MINDSET
Having a collaborative outlook leads to a life rich with peers whose feedback can be trusted and opinion respected. This creates safety, both interpersonally and financially, to invest in the idea that “when one of us thrives, we all thrive”. We can support each other’s work in a way that feels meaningful.

EGO CRUSHER
Artists can often get caught up in their own ego unintentionally. But when you’re making music with someone else, playing back-to-back, or creating a project together, you have to put your ego to one side for the greater good. That can be very healthy and humbling.